Mubarak

“In Tahrir Square itself the grass has died, and much youthful optimism with it.”

The death of His Most Blessed Beatitude Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Shenouda III comes at a perilous time for Egypt’s Christian minority.

Who are the winners and losers in Egypt’s ongoing political battle, asks Krishnan Guru-Murthy, as protesters remain in the square and talks continue.

They aren’t giving up on either side of this. Although much of Cairo is going back to work and shops and banks started to open, the protesters defied expectations and again brought huge numbers to their cause.

The pro-democracy protesters are now effectively contained in a ring of steel consisting of tanks and troops. It protects them from the pro-Mubarak thugs, but it also keeps them under control. And I saw people being prevented from taking food into the protest zone – so this is a war of attrition, and the state has more weapons in its favour.